Social Security: Alan Simpson offends almost everyone with 'cow' quip

Social Security is a touchy subject. Alan Simpson, co-chair of Obama's deficit commission, has a colorful mouth and lots of things to say about Social Security. Put the two together and 'poof!' another political brush fire for Obama.

National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform co-chairs Alan Simpson (l.) and Erskine Bowles (r.) speak at the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington last month. Simpson compared Social Security to a 'milk cow' recently.

But Wednesday, a quip made by the man who is now a co-chair of President Obama's bipartisan deficit commission was no laughing matter – at least to liberal activists and bloggers now calling for his head.

Who he offended: the list

"This demeaning attitude toward Social Security is consistent with factually incorrect statements made by Senator Simpson in the past which show a complete misunderstanding of the true financial condition of Social Security," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) of Vermont and Rep. Peter DeFazio (D) or Oregon wrote to President Obama Wednesday. (They might have noted that Simpson once referred to Social Security recipients as "greedy geezers.")

"In order for your commission's recommendations to have credibility with Congress," the two liberal lawmakers wrote, "we respectfully urge you to remove Senator Simpson from the commission."

"The vast majority of the 310 million Americans he insulted – particularly 156 million women and younger Americans for whom the traditional pension will be a relic of history – don’t have access to the type of traditional pension retirement security that Senator Simpson has from his decades in Congress," AARP Senior Vice President Drew Nannis said in a statement. "Perhaps that’s why his comments demonstrate a woeful disconnect from or disinterest in the challenges facing many American families for whom Social Security is literally a lifeline."

He was quick to apologize to Carson at OWL, noting on the fiscal commission's web site that: "Over the last 40 years, I have had my size 15 feet in my mouth a time or two."

"I apologize for what I wrote," he said. "I can see that my remarks have caused you anguish, and that was not my intention. I certainly did not intend to diminish your hard work for the Older Women’s League. I know you care deeply about strengthening Social Security, and so do I, just as deeply."

Obama in (another) bind

The whole episode puts Mr. Obama in a bind.

At the White House Wednesday deputy communications director Jennifer Psaki, said, “Alan Simpson has apologized, and while we regret and do not condone his comments, we accept his apology and he will continue to serve.”

Maybe so, but Social Security is likely to get even hotter as this fall's elections approach.

As the Monitor's Judy Nichols Douglasswrote recently, Democrats are "emphasizing the program’s popularity among Americans, their commitment to protecting it, and their contention that Republicans want to change Social Security to its detriment."